OUR CORRESPONDENTTINSUKIA: After two successive joint visits of the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh team in the context of disputed inter-state border issues in conjunction with 'Namsai Declaration', it has become vividly clear that due to the negligence and apathetic attitude of Assam Government, a large portion of Assam land had been grabbed by Arunachalee people in a phased manner over a period of nearly 35 years. Out of 123 disputed villages dotted along the 804. 1 km-long shared boundaries with Arunachal Pradesh, 11 villages under Sadiya subdivision in the Tinsukia district are earmarked as disputed where neither Arunachalee people paid any tax for occupying the areas nor did the Government of Assam ever extend any benefit to these areas.
On the contrary, the Arunachal Government developed infrastructure and other amenities to the extent of functioning a circle office within the territory of Assam. Intriguingly, it took 33 years after the Assam Government filed a case before Apex Court in 1989 on border dispute to take into present joint ventures. Surprisingly, the local xommittee appointed by the Supreme Court in 2006 took 8 years to submit its report identifying 123 villages and another 8 years for the Border Protection & Development Department to notify constitution of 12 Regional Committees and during the last 16 years, new areas, including Dihing Patkai National Park and certain areas under Changlang-Tinsukia district had been encroached by Arunachalees which were not mandated under the ambit of present 12 Regional Committees.
Of the 11 disputed villages under Sadiya subdivision, one village named HazuKhuti camp could not be located while among the rest 10 villages, Paglam is 4. 3 km within Assam but under effective control of Arunachal Pradesh; Keba, PaglamTinali, Banggo, Kaling-I and Kaling-II are located in Sadiya subdivision in sheet no 83M/9 but were not established prior to 1981-1982 as per Survey of India map. With close proximity to inter-state boundary, these villages were under the reserve forest of Doomdooma division once.
According to local people of Amarpur, the flood-affected people from Jonai/Dhemaji moved into these forest areas who were later evicted by the forest department. After their eviction, the people from Arunachal started occupying the land threatening forest officials and displaced persons who had to flee and move elsewhere. As per the Survey of India location, four villages, namely Kangkong, Rukma, Sunpura HQ and Menkeng Miri, are located within Arunachal Pradesh of which certain points in two villages- Sunpura HQ and Menkeng Miri- are under encroachment by people of Assam.
According to an official source, it is not possible to evict or relocate encroachers, irrespective of whether they are from Assam or Arunachal Pradesh. Demarcating the boundary afresh in satellite settlement mode, particularly in areas like Sunpura HQ, Menkeng Miri and Rukma, appears to be a viable solution to resolve the boundary dispute without any conflict. As a whole, Arunachal Pradesh gained a lot in terms of land and revenue.
With Assam already at the receiving end, it should check further encroachment by Arunachalees into newer areas without delay. Also Read: Assam and Arunachal Pradesh start joint boundary visitsAlso Watch: Guwahati Weather Stands at 35°C, Google Says It Feels Like 47°C.
